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A new product is available! It is the right angle bracket pictured below. To see the product in our webshop click here or on the picture.

Right angle bracket (b90p12ra) for MakerBeam and OpenBeam

The introduction of a new bracket is a good start for the new year we thought. This right angle bracket is very similar to the 90 degree bracket. It’s right angle shape however gives the opportunity to connect the beams crosswise. And with beams we mean both OpenBeam and MakerBeam beams! This fastener is suited for both. Below are a few more pictures.

Left: right angle bracket. Right: 90 degree bracketsA cross connection of the beams is possible.A cross connection can be made with both OpenBeam and MakerBeamThe right angle bracket is suited for both OpenBeam and MakerBeam.

It is a fact the NEMA 17 brackets are in demand. What about servo motor brackets and brackets for micro stepper motors? We wanted to give it a try. Pieter Bos (@pieterbos) gave us a way out. He is the guy that makes our 3D printed end caps. 3D printing is a fun and easy way to try new ideas and 3D printers are very popular with makers. Why not have more 3D printed parts for sale in our shop? We asked Pieter and he started prototyping. You can see the steps he made in the picture below.

The first idea was to completely encapsulate the micro stepper motor. From there it went to the lean figure on the right. This design, printed in black, will go on sale soon. They are printed in PLA – polylactic acid.

With the servo brackets we dismissed 3d printing but thought of laser cutting. This posed no problem for Pieter. He made some brackets and tried different materials. From left to right: MDF, transparant perspex and finally opaque perspex (or polymethylmetacrylaat). We liked the last one the best. This one will go on sale soon.

We ordered stainless steel NEMA 17 brackets. The samples came in and we were really pleased with their look, the polish and the MakerBeam artwork around the bracket. There was a surprise as well. Our manufacturer had added some aluminum anodised brackets in various colours. We thought the red bracket looked great. They go very well with our clear and black anodised beams. Below you will find a picture of the two.

Good news and bad news. The good news is that we ordered lots of MakerBeam NEMA 17 brackets made of stainless steel. The bad news is that we have to wait a while because of Chinese new year. We expect this new batch early March. We will post a message on our website as soon as they come in.

When we published the last update concerning the NEMA 17 brackets (end November 2012) we thought our NEMA problems were over. Good quality NEMA brackets for a good price! Unfortunately this did not prove to be durable solution. We were unable to order a second batch with this European manufacturer.

At this point we knew that the second manufacturer we had approached earlier (also European) was unable to deliver the NEMA brackets he had invoiced. Exit this manufacturer as well. Now we knew we had to go find a manufacturer all over again.

It was then we the manufacturers we already have a good relationship with – those who we order the parts for our starter kit from – came back with good offers. We decided to go with our Asian partner.

Our wish for the new year – Chinese or other – is to have a hassle free supply, stock and sale of NEMA 17 brackets!!

Update (20121127) NEMA 17 brackets came in! And even more surprisingly: we like them!! I just put them back online again. It is possible to order the brackets again. Finally!
Now we are waiting for the brackets of our second manufacturer.
Here is a picture of what the bracket looks like (the right amount of holes and a polished look).
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Currently there are two manufacturers working on NEMA 17 brackets for two beams. Here is a link to an earlier blog post (20121026) about this.

The information we get on the first company is not that good. They made the choice to make them with sheet metal instead of aluminum (AlMg1). This to make them stronger they say. Now the brackets are ready, but there is the question whether or not we want to have them polished, see picture. The answer is yes we want them polished! This will take a few more days. Probably they still will be in by the end of November. This is when we expect a new batch of black anodised beams in, so good enough for us. We have been waiting this long, we can wait a little longer.

We are very optimistic about the second company. Pictures of the finished product we have not received yet. However we did receive good drawings and good feedback. The company even pointed out to us a flaw in the info we gave. That is why we are optimistic and are hoping we can get our servo brackets made there as well. We are working on this. Here are some drawings of the NEMA 17 brackets and the servo brackets.